Mackenzie Wiki has found a consistent groove with Canberra Raiders where she is churning out powerful mahi for the second NRLW season in a row. The 22-year-old was impressive in her first season of NRLW last year with 121m/game and 85.5% tackling as one the NRLWahine who showed the strength of women's rugby league in Aotearoa by quickly transitioning from club footy to NRLW.

Wiki was playing for Manurewa in 2022 along with her Raiders comrade Kerehitina Matua before linking up with Raiders. They were joined by the likes of Abigail Roache, Laishon Albert-Jones (Knights) and Annessa Biddle (Sharks) who graduated from premier women's footy in Auckland to NRLW last season.

Wiki and Matua are both Cook Islands internationals who could add to the Aotearoa Kiwi Ferns depth, although Wiki is in a funky spot given the depth of NRLWahine centres. This saw Biddle take up an edge forward role for Kiwi Ferns last year for example and Wiki could command a starting centre spot, or showcase her versatility.

Along with Biddle, Cheyelle Robins-Reti is the other centre for Raiders and she made her Kiwi Ferns debut last year. Leianne Tufuga plays centre for Tigers and she has played on the wing for Kiwi Ferns. Knights have two NRLWahine in the centres with Roache and Shanice Parker. Former Black Fern Rosie Kelly is at centre for Eels and Mele Hufanga is the best of them all as the centre for Broncos. Wiki is good enough to play for Kiwi Ferns and like Biddle, Wiki has enough oomph to fill a role in the forwards if that’s an option.

Here's how the Wiki development arc looks this season with a wee explosion of tries, try assists and linebreaks...

• 2023: 7 games, 2 linebreaks, 121m/game, 85.5% tackling

• 2024: 4 games, 3 tries, 3 try assists, 4 linebreaks, 143m/game, 76.6% tackling

Raiders have only won one game this season and their loss to Broncos was their third loss in a row. Despite Raiders losing to Broncos, Wiki churned out an impressive performance with a season high 185m and eight tackle breaks. Now Wiki leads leads Raiders for tackle breaks and linebreaks, while ranked eighth for tackle breaks and sixth for linebreaks in NRLW.

Wiki has balanced more running mahi with more missed tackles and Raiders have conceded more than 20 points in every game this season, so there is room for improvement for Wiki as well as her Raiders team. The way Wiki has transitioned from rugby league in Aotearoa to NRLW is aligned with the best NRLWahine and now Wiki needs to help her Raiders team crack finals footy.

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